Madison Asset Management LLC Invests $9.90 Million in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 27,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth $2,387,990,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at $733,733,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at about $728,168,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $272,041,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,962 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $323,280,000 after purchasing an additional 473,547 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST opened at $352.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $24.80 billion, a PE ratio of 45.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $347.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.51. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.83 and a fifty-two week high of $386.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 16.98%.The company had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.140-2.240 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.850-9.050 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 11.27%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.